T.L. Hanna soccer coach close to milestone

The only person in Anderson who believed 400 career wins was possible was the coach's wife. And that was 1978.

But as Dick Smith has inched within seven of that milestone, his coaching has picked up a lot of believers within the program and around the state.

By starting the T.L. Hanna boys soccer program 32 years ago, and later the girls program in the 1980s, along with both of the state's all-star games, winning boys state championships in '80 and ‘96, Smith is well respected in the state's soccer community.

"If you think Hanna soccer, it's Dickie Smith," said Dave Madden, Hanna's junior varsity coach who was on the '80 state championship team.

Smith, who would be the third coach in state history to win 400 games, credits his "300 sons" for all the victories and added that "I never kicked a soccer ball myself out there. These kids have done all this."

His philosophy is an old-fashioned approach of matching cleats, no ponytails, no ear rings and the only hats allowed must have an ‘H' or a ‘J' on them.

"The only way to do it is my way or the highway," Smith said. "Right or wrong or indifferent, they buy into it. Whoever is the next guy here, I hope he can win 400 himself."

That '80 state championship run, which was completed with a 1-0 win at Irmo, included wins over Hillcrest and Mauldin within hours on the same day.

"The Americans beat the Russians in hockey, that wasn't the big thing," Smith said. "We won the state championship in soccer. It was huge."

Yet two years before Hanna won a state championship, Smith had virtually no soccer knowledge.

When word reached the Hanna coaches' office that the school district had approved soccer, Smith was pegged as the new coach only because he was the only coach on staff that didn't already coach two sports.

To help him coach that first season of what was a foreign sport in his mind, Smith had a seven-man coaching staff of Erskine College players who agreed to help because Smith paid their gas money.

"Those guys basically taught him, and coached us," Madden said.

Smith also read every book and watched every tape of soccer he could find.

Already a member of the soccer coaches' Hall of Fame, Smith last year was inducted into the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

He's a nine-time region coach of the year, a state coach of the year, and was nominated for national coach of the year twice.

The ironic thing about Smith's place in the soccer community and in Anderson School District 5 was that he was forced to retire as a teacher at the end of last school year. And because his only job in the district is coaching soccer, there's no guarantee he'll be back next season.

If Hanna doesn't reach 400 for Smith this year, his longevity and contributions alone should earn him another season.